Ebola virus hit the African continent earlier this year and has killed nearly 2,200 people in several countries there. The UN Security Council has also declared the outbreak of the virus in West Africa a "threat to international peace and security".

UN chief Ban Ki-moon last week had described the situation arising out of spread of Ebola virus in the African continent as "unprecedented" and had announced setting up of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to put in place an effective response mechanism.